Posts

Luxury Daily – French fashion label Nina Ricci is building on its focus of friendship with a special video series that tempts followers to indulge in its fragrances.

Nina Ricci’s parfum line, Nina & Luna, is being promoted with a fun summer campaign that shows two best friends exploring Paris while embarking on a baking challenge. The “Les Gourmandises de Nina & Luna” video series represents the fragrances as the perfect accessory for the season and as a sweet treat.

“With so many new fragrances being launched, this trend-focused social marketing is taking a new, fresh approach to building consumer appeal,” said Laura Sossong, manager at BRP, Boston. “Nina Ricci is inviting customers to visualize their product as a perfect accompaniment to life’s exciting adventures, using colors and design to portray the scent as a delicious fragrance to be savored.

“This is sure to stand out to the target market, who is delighted by creative curation of campaigns involving videos that promote experiential elements,” she said. Ms. Sossong is not affiliated with Nina Ricci, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.

“By utilizing social media capabilities in a way that personifies the perfume, on top of layering in today’s food truck trend, this unique compilation of videos and pictures will increase the excitement of younger women and make them more inclined to sample and purchase Nina Ricci fragrances,” she said.

Mobile Commerce Daily – PepsiCo is merchandising out its emoji campaign for its namesake brand, hoping to get in on the holiday season and tooling together call-to-action mobile marketing techniques such as a White Elephant giveaway on social media.

The Pepsi brand will be joining the numerous fashion and accessories brands who set up pop-up shops for the holiday season for its holiday #SayItWithPepsi campaign, but the shop will not have a bricks-and-mortar presence. PepsiPopUpShop.com will be available for a limited amount of time where users can shop merchandise featuring holiday versions of the Pepsi emojis that have been seen throughout the year, but it is Pepsi’s unique marketing campaign that will give the shop legs.

“Pepsi has taken advantage of the emoji craze to keep the brand front of mind with mobile consumers throughout the holiday season,” said Jonathan Portny, senior manager at BRP. “For a company traditionally bound by the brick-and-mortar shopping experience, the PepsiMoji Holiday Pop Up Shop enables Pepsi to interact with a different market of online shoppers looking for fun and convenient stocking stuffers.

“Unique, rarer soda bottle emojis are worth more points and points are redeemable for impressive rewards like concert tickets or travel getaways,” he said. “Pepsi uses gamification to engage and reward consumers looking for something more than the traditional in-store grocery shopping experience.”

CRM Magazine – Social media provides a wealth of opportunities for retailers to create memorable, highly personalized shopping experiences for customers, but most are not successfully executing their social media strategies, according to a report from retail management consulting firm Boston Retail Partners (BRP).

“There’s a lot of room for improvement in [retailers’] social media presence, social media campaigns, and how they use [social media] to support their overall businesses,” says Brian Brunk, principal at BRP.

Brunk says that many retailers still don’t have the right personnel, technology, processes, or priorities in place to adequately deal with the unique requirements of social media. “There’s an expectation for a quick response, but not all retailers are set up for that, and so they end up with frustrated customers,” he says.

Luckily, retailers are not simply burying their heads in the sand. They, too, see the need for improvement. In fact, in BRP’s research, 81 percent of retailers using social media to engage with customers admitted that they could use help with the channel. Sixty-nine percent see greater opportunities for using social media to improve customer journeys, and 59 percent plan within three years to use brand advocacy and social media endorsements as a way to identify their most valuable customers.

Mobile Commerce Daily – Kate Spade, JackThreads and Warby Parker will be the first to usher in Instagram’s major move to commerce, allowing users to shop products featured in photos in a way that mirrors user behavior, which could mean social media shopping may finally see the adoption rate previously expected.

Instagram is capitalizing on its users’ behavior by making it easier to shop products directly in the news feed with product pages that retailers can tag in their photos. After the anticipation of the buy buttons rush fell flat to the disappointment of retailers, Instagram’s unique experience may usher in sales and create a platform that ushers in mobile sales through an application that most mobile users are on.

“This is another example of social media platforms inventing more convenient ways for consumers to shop and buy,” said David Naumann, vice president of marketing at BRP. “With the proliferation of smartphones, consumers have elevated their expectations for convenience.

“While some retailers have been very innovative with new mobile apps and cool features, the challenge is that consumers only want a limited number of apps on their phones,” he said. “Consumers will only download apps if they are loyal or frequent shopper of the brand.

“The new Instagram features will enable retailers to extend their brand beyond they loyal fans.”

CRM Magazine – When it comes to customer loyalty, companies often expect a lot from their most valued customers: Enrolling in loyalty programs takes effort, and then once they are enrolled, members are expected to remember PINs, passwords, account numbers, and other information or to carry around special cards or keychain tags.

Despite the hoops that customers must jump through to participate, these loyalty programs appear to be paying off for retailers, as recent research from Boston Retail Partners (BRP) found that 62 percent of retailers increased their budgets to enhance their loyalty programs in 2015. Much of the added funding went toward evolving loyalty programs to satisfy tech-savvy consumers with mobile offerings and unified commerce experiences.

Modern loyalty programs need to go past traditional earn-points-and-receive-rewards structures, according to Brian Brunk, principal at BRP. He recommends adding exclusive perks, relevant incentives, and personalized rewards as a way to further reward loyal customers.

“It’s all about engagement,” Brunk says. “Successful loyalty programs focus on immersive customer engagement and meaningful rewards that are sticky.

“Personalized offers based on personal preferences and past purchases are more meaningful as rewards and encourage participation in the loyalty program,” he adds.

https://brpconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BRP-Logo-Website.png00brphttps://brpconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BRP-Logo-Website.pngbrp2016-10-17 09:18:052016-10-17 09:18:05Brands Must Be Loyal to Loyalty Members

Mobile Marketer – Frito-Lay has its sights set on commanding as much of the mobile space as possible with the re-release of three fan-favorite flavors, enabling consumers to earn hourly rewards by texting a code found on packaging to a designated number.

The snack food giant’s new flavors, Smoked Gouda & Chive, Chicken & Waffles and Wavy Truffle Fries, are being reintroduced to the Lay’s lineup due to popular demand. The flavors will be re-released on October 3, and the rollout is being anchored on mobile through contests, social media outreach and an official reveal event hosted by actor Josh Peck.

“Social media is a great way for brands to magnify the awareness and create a viral buzz for a campaign,” said David Naumann, vice president of marketing at Boston Retail Partners.

“Beyond regular posts on social media, savvy brands are using interactive games, voting and contests to engage its passionate brand enthusiasts to ‘share’ and ‘like,’ which spurs further engagement among their network of friends.”

Mobile Marketer – Gilt is kicking off the fall season with a foray into broad digital spaces, forging a multichannel campaign featuring mobile-optimized video, a diverse array of campaign images, sponsored content and a pop-up exhibit in New York.

The prominent online retailer and lifestyle brand’s campaign, operating under the banner #GiltLife, is focusing on the Web site’s role as a tastemaker for those who enjoy life in style. To help make its point, Gilt has recruited the talents of model Alessandra Ambrosio, actress Kate Bosworth and celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson for inclusion in the video component of the campaign.

“Gilt is launching its campaign with celebrities everyone will recognize: a chef, a model, and an actress,” said Paul Dubie, manager at Boston Retail Partners.

“It’s possible that Gilt has chosen to work with these celebrities not because they are necessarily social media influencers but because they are recognizable to consumers,” he said. “We are curious to know how they live when they are not in the spotlight or strutting the catwalk.

“The whole #GiltLife campaign is just that: a glimpse into the entire Gilt lifestyle. Gilt is using their multi-channel campaign to inspire their customers and show off their lifestyle, from men’s to women’s fashion, home and beauty, and to extend an invitation for this experience to their customers.”

Mobile Marketer – Old Navy is diversifying its social media content by enabling fashion fans to view an interactive map of Instagram posts depicting influencers’ street styles from all 50 states and glean more inspiration for their own wardrobes.

The mass-market retailer’s 50 Styles, 50 States campaign, done in collaboration with Collectively, tapped 50 social media creators to display their regional-inspired styles on their Instagram accounts. The influencers’ outfits, all of which feature Old Navy apparel and accessories, are available on Instagram as well as on a People microsite.

“This campaign will certainly boost nationwide appeal of the Old Navy label,” said Laura Sossong, manager at Boston Retail Partners. “The landscape and lifestyle diversity captured by the regional images highlights the versatility of the Old Navy assortment, allowing more consumers to visualize a fit between the brand and their wardrobes.”

Retail Wire – According to a new report from Boston Retail Partners (BRP), 81 percent of retailers using social media to engage with customers indicate that their processes need improvement.

The report explored five key areas where retailers can use social media to improve the customer journey:

Experience: Sixty-nine percent of retailers see opportunities to make use of social media to enhance the customer experience. While social media can influence shoppers’ purchase decisions and personalize their shopping experiences, retailers remain uncertain how to best use it, according to BRP’s recent surveys;

Interaction: Seventy-five percent support customer interaction via social media, but 81 percent of those retailers feel that the current interaction needs improvement. Outside of the direct in-store experience, social media is becoming the preferred customer communication forum, and expectations are high. Customers want responses to questions, feedback and complaints quickly or they feel slighted.

Endorsement: Fifty-nine percent of retailers plan to utilize brand advocacy/social media endorsement as a source for identifying their most valuable customers within three years. While social media has made it easier to identify brand advocates, retailers are uncertain how to measure brand advocacy and then use that information to boost revenue;

Satisfaction: Fifty-nine percent of retailers use social media comments as a means of measuring customer satisfaction, yet 45 percent of those claim it needs improvement. Beyond ensuring that brand advocates are happy, understanding satisfaction levels can help retailers refine their message and quickly address any potential dissatisfaction.

Insights: Sixty percent of retailers capture customer feedback and insights from social media and online comments.

However, few “tried and true” tools are available for retailers to use as a guide for social media analytics. According to BRP’s 2015 Merchandise Planning Benchmark Survey, only 23 percent of retailers currently use social media data product development; 29 percent plan to use it within two years. Only 31 percent have any plans for utilizing social media data in assisting with allocation.

https://brpconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BRP-Logo-Website.png00brphttps://brpconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BRP-Logo-Website.pngbrp2016-09-06 16:07:012016-09-06 16:07:01Why are retailers struggling to get social media right?

Convenience Store News – Customer experience, feedback are areas of opportunity. Although social media can be an opportunity to create a personalized customer shopping experience, 81 percent of retailers using the platform to engage with customers indicated the need to improve their methods, according to Boston Retail Partners’ (BRP) latest special report, Enhancing Customer Engagement Through Social Media.

“Social media provides retailers with unprecedented visibility into their customer base. It provides a venue where retailers can directly communicate with their customers and it can be an extremely powerful tool for collecting and using customer insights to improve planning decisions,” said Brian Brunk, principal at BRP. “Retailers can understand who the customer is, what she wants, when and where she wants it, and even why she wants it based on social media postings and feedback.”

The report identifies five key areas where retailers should utilize social media to improve their customer engagement:

Experience. Sixty-nine percent of retailers see opportunities to utilize social media to enhance the customer experience.

https://brpconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BRP-Logo-Website.png00brphttps://brpconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BRP-Logo-Website.pngbrp2016-09-02 16:37:292016-09-02 16:37:29Retailers See Need to Improve Social Engagement

ABOUT BRP CONSULTING

We are a comprehensive consulting firm helping many of the most successful retailers and restaurant operators solve their business and technology problems. We focus on three key areas: IT strategy, vendor selection and project implementation.